Veteran pros were left empty-handed Friday as a pair of anglers relatively new to the tournament circuit walked away from Lake Erie with the lead at the CITGO Bassmaster Northern Open presented by Busch Beer.
On the boater side, New Jersey’s Jess Salmon brought in 16 pounds, 1 ounce of Lake Erie’s smallmouth bass, bringing his two-day total to 35-9. Salmon lengthened his lead over his closest competitor, Pennsylvania’s Randall Romig, to a full pound.
Romig boated 15-4 on the second day for a total of 34-9, enough to survive the cut that narrowed the field to the top 50 and well within striking distance of the lead. Ontario, Canada’s Gaspare Costabille is also hard on Salmon’s heels with 33-2. Despite the pressure, Salmon was pleased heading into the competition’s final day.
“It’s going great,” said Salmon, who is fishing the boater division of the Opens for the first time this season. “I’m a little nervous. There’s this one guy right on my heels.”
Salmon stuck with the strategy that put him in the lead on Thursday, pulling Lake Erie’s plentiful smallmouth out of a 3-mile stretch of deep water, dropping his lures into about 40 feet of water and catching bass as he drags the line across the lake bottom.
“I’d be confident tomorrow if I come in with 18 or 19 pounds,” he said. “I’ve been fishing the non-boater side since ’89 and I always felt like I could compete with these guys, but I never had the opportunity or the financial backing to do it the right way.
“The change in formats that lets non-boaters earn points to qualify for a boater spot really helped guys like me.”
If Salmon can hang on to the lead for another day, he stands to win the $50,000 top prize – the lion’s share of the overall $300,000 purse.
The non-boater division also yielded the lead to a newcomer: Jason Horvath, a 22-year-old junior at Indiana University-South Bend. Horvath, whose two-day weight of 34-12 puts him a mere 2 ounces ahead of his closest competitor, is fishing his first BASS event. The top 50 non-boaters will wrap up their competition for a $24,000 boat-and-motor combination Saturday.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Horvath said. “I just fish local tournaments.”
This is the second of three events that will send the top anglers to the inaugural Bassmaster Open Championship in December – and, ultimately, the coveted CITGO Bassmaster Classic next summer.
Anglers launch daily from NFTA-Boat Harbor Marina at 6:30 a.m. The final weigh-in will begin Saturday at 2:45 p.m. at the marina.
BASS is the world’s largest fishing organization, sanctioning more than 20,000 tournaments worldwide through its Federation. The CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail is the oldest and most prestigious pro bass-fishing tournament circuit and continues to set the standard for credibility, professionalism and sportsmanship as it has since 1968.
Sponsors of the CITGO Bassmaster Tournament Trail presented by Busch Beer include CITGO Petroleum Corp., Busch Beer, Chevrolet Trucks, Yamaha Outboards, Mercury Marine, Skeeter Boats, Triton Boats, Lowrance Electronics, Flowmaster Exhaust Systems, Kumho Tires, Progressive Insurance, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Diamond Cut Jeans, MotorGuide Trolling Motors, and BankOne.
Associate Sponsors include Bryant Heating and Air Conditioning and G3 Boats.
Local sponsors include Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau.By: BASS Communications/ BASS
